Mumbai: DRI unearths Rs 1,800cr export incentive scam, 2 bizmen held

Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has unearthed a scam where Rs 1,800 crore worth fraudulent exports were carried out using dummy companies to claim export incentives. Two businessmen, Rajan Sarang and Prashant Modak, were arrested on Saturday and a court has remanded them in DRI custody.

A fraudulent claim of Rs 49.2 crore involving 124 bogus companies has come to light till now though no remittances has been received for the exports made. Two other consignments with a declared value of Rs 22 crore have been kept on hold by DRI for probe.

Officials have recovered a 9mm pistol from Modak’s flat; he has not been able to submit valid documents for its possession. Sarang, who owns Pavan Enterprise, was allegedly involved in clearing and forwarding of overvalued exports consignments of garments with the intent to claim higher drawback fraudulently. Modak has admitted to DRI about export consignments consisting of cheap quality of goods, said sources.

The syndicate is run by a group of persons based out of Delhi, Surat and Mumbai, sources said. Gullible people were roped in to submit KYC documents on payment of a few thousands as commission to create bogus companies and Import Export Code, a mandatory requirement for effecting exports.